The relationship between an astronaut and a flying robot took a surprising turn when the robot stopped doing what it was told. Cimon (which stands for Crew Interactive MObile Companion) is a football-sized intelligent robot that flies around the International Space Station. Cimon was designed to keep the astronauts company and to help them with their work. Recently, astronaut Alexander Gerst asked Cimon to play his favourite song. But when asked to stop and do something different, Cimon carried on talking about music, and eventually said “Don’t be so mean, please”.
While Cimon has been put away for the time being, Gerst hopes to see him back in action soon.